As stated by Alyaksandr Tishchanka, Uggla is really on the so-called “stop-list”, and the Swede knew about that himself. “The person had arrived here to advertise himself, knowing he is an unwelcomed person here,” the spokesperson of the State Border Committee noted. “He is not a fan, he is not interested in hockey, he hates our country, he treats stuffed toys with cruelty.” (In autumn of 2012 Östgruppen collected teddy bears in Sweden, in order to send them to Belarusian officials who are on the black list of the EU).

“Uggla’s visit to Belarus closes the chapter on his fruitless efforts to call off the world championship,” Tishchanka stated.

In January Martin Uggla wrote in his blog that Belarusian visas and accreditation hinder the Ice Hockey World Championship, and specifically that foreign journalists who want to be given accreditation for the championship in Minsk should write about sports only. “All journalists who want to cover the topics not related to the Ice Hockey championship, should seek accreditation from the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the host country, and it is a much more complicated and bureaucratic process,” Uggla wrote.

The Swedish human rights organisation Östgruppen is among the initiators of "Don't Play with the Dictator" campaign aimed against holding the Ice-Hockey World Championship in Minsk.